Policy Statement - 92-07 Faculty Teaching Doctoral-Level Courses, Serving on Doctoral Committees or Supervising Doctoral Dissertations
FACULTY TEACHING DOCTORAL-LEVEL COURSES, SERVING ON DOCTORAL COMMITTEES, OR SUPERVISING DOCTORAL DISSERTATIONS
The joint Ph.D. is the highest degree California State University, Long Beach is authorized to offer. The Ph.D. is, by definition, a research degree. It is incumbent, therefore, upon the University to provide assurance to the people of California and to its doctoral students that the teaching of doctoral-level courses and the supervision of doctoral dissertations will only be assigned to faculty who are themselves active in research.
In the words of the Council of Graduate Schools, "The quality of the graduate faculty is the single most important factor in the establishment and maintenance of an excellent program leading to the Ph.D. degree. Each member of the graduate faculty must be a creative scholar, that is, an accomplished researcher and an excellent teacher and mentor; graduate teaching is an extension of his or her research."1 The CSU's own Advisory Committee to Study Graduate Education reached the same conclusion. It specified as the first condition for proposing joint doctoral degrees: "Faculty with extensive experience in offering graduate programs, including research experience and interest; demonstrated potential for obtaining funding for research."2 In keeping with these expectations, WASC standard 4.C.3 states, "Faculty and students in Ph.D. programs are actively involved in original research contributing to generalizable new knowledge." Standard 4.C.8 adds: "Research-oriented graduate programs have a preponderance of active research scholars on their faculties."3
Accordingly, any department or college/school authorized to participate in the offering of a joint Ph.D. must take appropriate steps to insure that only faculty who are qualified to do so participate in teaching doctoral-level courses (i.e., courses numbered 700-799), serving on doctoral committees, and supervising doctoral candidates in the research and writing of their dissertations.
It is the position of the Academic Senate that the faculty not be divided into two groups by the creation of a separate graduate faculty.
1 Council of Graduate School, The Doctor of Philosophy Degree: A Policy Statement (Washington: Council of Graduate Schools, 1990), p. 6.
2 Advisory Committee to Study Graduate Education in the California State University, Graduate Education in the California State University: Meeting Public Needs Consistent with Educational Priorities (Long Beach: Office of the Chancellor, 1989), pp. 47-48.
3 Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities, Handbook of Accreditation (Oakland: Western Association of Schools and Colleges, 1988), pp. 30-31.
Effective: IMMEDIATELY
